Makes me feel like a prick, but this shit really pisses me off. He knew damn well the dangers and got compensated very well for it. I honestly feel like these law suits could be the downfall of football as we know it.

I am not a lawyer- but just as an average joe- it bugs me that suicide could be grounds for a wrongful death suit. If he had died from paralysis, or stroke or something non-voluntary, different story. But this suit- it would be a little like a parent suing some emo band their kid liked because their teenager committed suicide. Brain function is something that science is just scratching the surface on with it's understanding. We can't be sure how much of his desire for suicide was fueled by head trauma and how much was routine depression that comes with retirement and life changes. And in the end, it all boils down to choices made by Seau, both by playing in the league and taking his own life. Not to be insensitive to Seau's family but I hope they lose that suit. It would set a really dark precedent for the league.

kearly wrote:I am not a lawyer- but just as an average joe- it bugs me that suicide could be grounds for a wrongful death suit. If he had died from paralysis, or stroke or something non-voluntary, different story. But this suit- it would be a little like a parent suing some emo band their kid liked because their teenager committed suicide. Brain function is something that science is just scratching the surface on with it's understanding. We can't be sure how much of his desire for suicide was fueled by head trauma and how much was routine depression that comes with retirement and life changes. And in the end, it all boils down to choices made by Seau, both by playing in the league and taking his own life. Not to be insensitive to Seau's family but I hope they lose that suit. It would set a really dark precedent for the league.

I actually agree with you 100% in principal here, but I just can't say that his suicide was definitely voluntary. We don't know nearly enough about his brain problems to know that he actually had a choice here. I'm not saying I agree with the lawsuit, but I just am clarifying that in this type of instance, the suicide has the possibility of not being as "voluntary" as one might believe. There are too many questions that cannot be answered..which is why I also believe the lawsuit should go away, but the NFL may settle (which is what the lawyers undoubtedly are counting on) just to keep away the bad publicity.

Death is a strange thing, we all react differently. Some people see death as an opportunity to expand their finances, others find it a time to grieve. Too often, family members look to their relatives and think "I can't wait til that person dies so I can get some stuff". It's kind of sad when you think about it.

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

JSeahawks wrote:Makes me feel like a prick, but this shit really pisses me off. He knew damn well the dangers and got compensated very well for it. I honestly feel like these law suits could be the downfall of football as we know it.

To be honest, I don't think you should really feel like a prick. As everyone here has said, you have to know the risks of playing the sport... These guys decide to play football knowing they are going to be human wrecking balls, then act as though they're the victims of unknown risks. Give me a break.

Doctors knew what a concussion was decades ago and it's pretty f'n obvious it's not going to help you out in the future.

The only way I could see a team or the NFL being held liable is if a player had a concussion and then the team made him play while knowing he had serious brain damage just 7 days before.

pinksheets wrote:Well, it was also established that big tobacco knew about the extensive dangers and acted to suppress the information.

If we find that the NFL had a ton of information about the long term effects of head injuries that they actively tried to suppress, that's one thing, but I haven't seen that established anywhere.

Considering the medical community only started knowing about it like 10 years ago, it's ridiculously unlikely the NFL knew and was sitting on it like the tobacco companies did for decades. Lot of various reasons why, but I'd be shocked to discover that.

Wrongful death suit? Him shooting himself in the chest like a coward was not the fault of the NFL. Everyone has problems in life some choose to deal with their problems and make the most of life others give up trying. There is no way to prove conclusively that his condition was a result solely of play in at the professional level. It could have started anywhere along the line right down to pee wee football. I'm wondering if he was just bad at managing money and the family didn't get a large enough piece of the pie for their liking.

“There’s no reason, with Mr. Allen and the fan base here and the stadium, that this can’t be a stable, long-term winning organization.” - John Schneider